Division 3 Racing

TSRF32, Retro F1 and Retro Pro Races, February 24, 2007

Buena Park, CA

Steube, Steube, Steu... Kirchhoffer!

Mike Steube nearly pulls a hat trick, misses by a few feet.

Report by "Gene Husting", photos by "Al Hall"... yeah right.

Team Checkpoint's ace Mike Steube was again in remarkable form, nearly winning all 3 races in the D3 event. After stomping all over his opponents with his 1/32 scale TSRF car, he distanced himself from both his teammates in the F1 race and missed the win in the Retro Pro class by mere feet. How's that for a day at the races?

NOTE: PICTURES WILL BE POSTED ASAP!

TSRF32 Race

This was a mere formality for Mike Steube who drove his Dokktorr's prepped Porsche rocket ship to a 10 laps advantage over his new teammate Paul Sterrett and the other team Checkpoint member, the Dokktoor hisself. Roger Uusitalo had a very fast car and drove it prudently to 4th spot, while Team Rolling Hills Keith Tanaka still has trouble with the little cars but finished ahead of Lee Hines in even more trouble and John Javier in a lot more trouble.

Retro F1 Race

Mike's new car was just a shade better, even than Paul Sterrett's "Super Lotus" or  his own former race winner now driven by Philippe de Lespinay. Paul kept Mike busy the whole race, driving superbly. At the end, only one lap separated the two cars, leaving everyone else in the dust. Mike was just a shade faster and incredibly consistent on every lane, just piling the laps with that fantastic car. Jeff Easterly had his best race result, nearly embarrassing the Dokk and nearly taking him out of the podium. John Javier also had his best race so far, edging terry de los Santos by less than a few feet. Way to go John! Keith Tanaka is getting better and better and lee Hines is still re-learning the old trade.

Retro F1 Race Results

Retro Pro Qualifying

The Dokktor gathered a single "hare lap" to edge his team mate Mike Steube by a mere 1/100th of a second for top spot. Mike in turn edged young Kyle Matthes, Mike Boemker and Adam Kirchhoffer by 2/100ths! Dennis Hill got one together another 3/100th behind, with Allen Low another 1/100th in arrears with possibly the fastest car there. Tight enough for you? This is very encouraging as far as the new Pro-Slot motors being quite even, if one ignores what happened a couple weeks earlier in New Jersey.

Retro Pro Qualifying Order:

*  Fastest lap

Retro Pro Semi Race

The Semi was handily won by Paul Sterrett over Doug Matthes, both moving to the main event. Allen Low had the rocket but had a tough time being consistent, possibly due to a fast controller not allowing him enough control. Jeff Easterly is getting used to the new class and Craig Williamson had the wrong body for the track, his car being a handful.

"C" RACE Semi Main RESULTS

*  Fastest lap

Retro Pro Main Race

The Main event began with Mike Steube running his inline, Adam Kirchhofer with his Maxwell sidewinder and Doug Matthes also with an inline locking horns in a tough battle, while others were already in deep hurt. Multiple pile ups and hesitant marshaling meant that there were a few innocent if vocal, victims. At the end of the first Heat, Mike was barely ahead of Adam and Doug, with his son Kyle, Paul and Philippe already in trouble. Heat 2 and Adam put two laps on Mike, Paul now only one lap behind. Philippe came back to reduce his deficit after his car spending time on the floor to four laps, as Mike Boemker and Dennis Hill were in deep agony with handling problems.

Mike Steube took over by one in Heat 3, Paul now in the same lap as Adam! Philippe regained another lap, now only three down. In Heat 5, Mike kept one ahead of Adam, with Paul having an unfortunate accident that took his car out of contention. Then Mike Boemker also had a severe wall blast, and he was out for good with a car in multiple bits.

Adam took over again by less than a lap in Heat 5, with Philippe regaining another lap, the pair of Matthes father and son now solidly in 4th and 5th spots. Dennis Hill was struggling to keep up after a long pit stop.

In heat 6, Adam gained a lap on Mike as a minor shunt bent the motor (!) and Mikes car lost power. Philippe decided that there was no point in trying to gain another spot as the pair upfront was able to sustain a faster pace than he could, So came cruise time. The Matthes were unable to catch either, but raced between themselves with Kyle quite faster with his Lowe chassis. Mike regained the lead briefly in Heat 8, only to lose it again and chase Adam all the way to the wire, their cars separated by a mere few feet. What a race it was, and Adam drove beautifully.

Dennis Hill consoled himself with the fastest lap, bettering the fastest qualifying lap.

*  Fastest lap

** DNF

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